Goldfish Pond
by Dragonsbane1611
Summary: NLG Approaching quietly from the north side of the pond, Neville aimed his wand and immobilized the spitting snapdragons that had started to quiver at his arrival. No one has taken care of you in awhile, he muttered, setting to work pulling weeds.


_**Goldfish Pond**_

_Sat.02.Jun.07_

It was a two-story white-brick structure with a steep, overhanging thatched roof. The windows and hardware glittered in the bright sunlight as they approached the wide front-door that was painted a deep blue.

"If you'll just step inside," said a small man, pulling an old-fashioned silver key out of an inside pocket.

"Of course," said Neville Longbottom, eyeing the eaves oddly as the man showed him into the house. Once inside, he paused and took a moment to sniff the air. "My great uncle had a thatched-roof and it would get a bit smelly after a good rain."

"Oh?" said the little man, "Well, no worries here, lad. This property has ceramic shingling."

Neville lifted and eyebrow, "Excuse me?"

"It's only charmed to look thatched. Adds a bit more character, if you ask me."

"Ah," said Neville, taking-in the front room. It was large enough for a three-piece suite and had a good-sized fireplace along the side-wall with an oak mantle. The dining area was just off the front room and the kitchen beyond that

"There's enough firewood behind the house to last three or four winters, I'm sure," said the man taking Neville's arm and leading him farther in. "You can see the dining room there, big enough for a friendly gathering, I should say."

Neville nodded and allowed the realtor to pull him along a short hallway off the front room that led to a bathroom, master bedroom and the staircase.

"Lovely bath with shower and built-in vanity area. You look like a man with a mind for appearance."

Neville raised his eyebrows and looked down at the worn trousers and sweater he was wearing. He hoped the realtor was a bit more honest about his property than he was about his client.

"Here's the master bedroom for you and the missus," said the realtor with a wiggle of his eyebrows and a nudge of his elbow which only reached to Neville's leg.

"Speaking of my wife, perhaps we should wait before going on too much further. I'd like to get her opinion as well."

"Oh, of course, of course!" cried the man, looking quite embarrassed as he dragged Neville out of the hallway. "Let's wait in the parlor, shall we?"

"I love it," said a woman standing in the front doorway.

Neville stepped toward her and took her hand, highly preferring it over the realtor's.

"Luna," began Neville, "this is Reu-"

"Reuben Radagast the fifth, at your humble home-buying service," said the realtor, bowing so low, his nose touched the floor. This wasn't such an amazing feat for his height.

"-the fifth," repeated Neville under his breath with a wink at his wife as Reuben straightened.

"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Radagast," said Luna warmly.

"The pleasure is all mine, miss," said the man starting to bow again.

"Okay, how about this," said Neville, stopping him with a hand on his shoulder. "Why don't we look at the upstairs?"

"Of course, of course! Where is my head?" chortled Mr. Radagast spinning on his heel and starting for the stairs. "Follow me, friends. You're going to love it! Come on, now. Don't be slow!"

"Demanding little fellow, isn't he?" asked Neville, letting Luna go before him.

"We do we move-in?" she asked suddenly before they'd even reached the stairs.

"You can't have fallen in love with it already. Let's finish looking, eh?"

"It's just so quaint," the lady smiled, trailing a hand along the wood-paneling that lined the hall and stairwell.

"Yes, quaint," he agreed and placed a quick kiss on her shoulder as they climbed the stairs. She cast him a coy look over her shoulder.

"There is another smaller bath up here and two bedrooms. Any kiddies in the picture?" asked the short realtor.

Neville and Luna exchanged glances, but didn't say anything before Reuben went on, "Always could use room to grow, yeah? Look at this one, isn't it lovely?"

The first bedroom, on the left side of the house had faded blue walls and built-in book shelves on either side of a wide window overlooking the back garden. The ceiling was pitched and met the sidewall about four feet above the floor. Reuben Radagast was gibbering about the view, but his client wasn't listening. Neville ran a hand along one of the shelves and peered out the window. There was a patch of spitting snapdragons bordering the southern side of a goldfish pond. The sun gleamed off something in the grass and a vision of a boy with golden hair flashed before his eyes.

"Neville?" called Luna from the bedroom across the hall.

He blinked and the boy was gone and he turned from the window.

"Excuse me, Mr. Radagast. Coming, love," he said, crossing the hall and leaving his agent behind. The room across the hall where his wife stood was a mirror image of the other, only painted a light rose color. Luna was sitting on the window sill with her arms at her sides. She turned a smile on him as he approached that told him he'd be signing the title later that day.

"You've got all the furniture laid out already, don't you?" asked Neville, leaning on the sill next to her.

"Do you like it?"

"I love it," he admitted with a quick glance out the window behind him. "It has a goldfish pond, did you notice?"

Luna's smile didn't even flicker as she nodded and followed his gaze.

"I rather like ponds and goldfish."

"Yeah, me too."

"Begging your pardon, Mr. Longbottom," the realtor knocked on the door. "Would you like to take a look at the land out back?"

"I'll have plenty of time to look later, Mr. Radagast," said Neville, standing up. "We'll take it."

The tiny man gave a whoop of delight and shook both of Neville's hands excitedly.

"You won't be sorry, sir; miss," he chuckled, grabbing them both and pulling them downstairs.

A stack of boxes floated into the house through the front door followed by Luna who was toting another box under her arm.

"Do you want me to leave your herbology books in here for now, or take them to our room?" she asked, setting down the box she was carrying and focusing her attention on the stack hovering about a foot off the ground.

"Here's fine," Neville mumbled through three nails held tightly between his lips. He was standing on a small stepladder in front of the fireplace, hanging photographs.

Luna let the boxes land with a heavy thud on the hardwood floor and moved to look at how he was getting on. He set the nails on the mantle and leaned back awkwardly.

"Is that straight?" he asked, nudging the lower corners of a picture of five boys in school uniforms laughing and rough-housing in a dormitory.

"Straight enough for me," she responded, steeping behind him and wrapping him in a hug. This startled him and he struggled to keep his balance for a moment. He took the nails out of his mouth and set them on the mantelpiece before turning and sitting on the top of the stepladder.

There was a stack of picture frames on the mantel and Luna took the one on top. She was in the photo with her husband who was holding up a toddler with yellow hair, round cheeks and hazel eyes that were squinted in a wide, laughing smile. Neville turned his head to see what she was looking at and sighed.

"He would have loved the goldfish pond."


End file.
